


Redamancy

by Arlyshawk



Series: The Shadows Come to Dance [1]
Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 06:52:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8613967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arlyshawk/pseuds/Arlyshawk
Summary: Leandra Poole never thought she'd love again after the loss of her husband, yet she found it eleven years later in Corvo Attano. Because of him, she gained a family, something that was very real in a world that seemed to dash past her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Preface: I've never written for Dishonored until this very work, so please be kind. As a note, Emily is made Empress of the Isles and is about.. 12, so this is set two years post Dishonored 1. I haven't played the second game yet, so forgive inconsistencies. 
> 
> Redamancy: The act of loving the one who loves you; love returned in full.

The dark training room is cool, faintly smelling of the cloying scent of the sea that beats against the rocks along the walls of Dunwall Tower. Leandra Poole holds a ivory pawn piece in between two fingers, contemplating her next move and dimly listens to Emily and Corvo spar at her back. Across from her sits her son, her baby who isn't so much a baby anymore, Ezekiel. She smiles at him though he doesn't look up from analyzing the ebon and cream squares of the board. Ezekiel looks like her late husband eerily, the same shade of gold to his hair and his eyes are the same shade of russet with a sort of lankiness and height that she part way expected. The only thing that is hers that she sees is the unruly mop of curls that he refuses to comb out, causing Emily to call him a sheepdog.

She sets the pawn down, sliding it forward to take a hold of one of Ezekiel's own pawn. Her son's spine snaps straight at once, eyes flicking over the board, long fingers going instinctually to his hair.

"You can't do that," Ezekiel snaps, eyes narrowing on her.

Crossing her legs, Leandra tucks a golden red curl behind her ear, and she keeps her voice even, "The pawn was next to mine and I took it, it was within my pawn's right to claim it."

"I thought that pawns couldn’t take other pawns," There's a long look of hesitation on his face, mixed with mild irritation. He swipes at the air with a hand and then tucks it into his overcoat, looking away from her. His voice is a hush, "Not fair."

"You wanted to learn chess, Ezekiel, so I am teaching you. You can't act like a child every time something doesn't go your way," She explains despite the brewing storm that makes his shoulders and jaw tighten. It breaks her heart to see him change because of age, because once he would have been thrilled to sit across from her and learn a game. Now, he acts far more arrogant than she likes and seemingly only has time to learn alchemy or tinkering. Leandra slants her blue eyes at him, "If you don’t wish to learn then I won't force it on you, but don't ask to learn and then act as if it doesn't interest you."

"Fine," His voice is short and there's a part of her that wants to shake her head. Her little boy isn't as little anymore and it frightens her that he won't grow out his ways.

A scream and shower of sparks from blunted swords makes her attention snap to Emily and Corvo across the room. One of Emily's legs is out to the side, the other is bent and her knee is touching the floor. Corvo, who stands taller than Emily, herself, and Ezekiel, slightly looms over his daughter, practice sword pressing against Emily's.

"You'd be cornered if this was real, Emily," Corvo backs away, straightening to his full height, sword hissing back into its sheath at his side. Emily shifts and tucks her legs underneath herself, fingers pushing her inky hair out of her face. She's growing to be beautiful, Leandra thinks, she will be tall and dark haired and fair - the epitome of an Empress of the Isles, like her mother before her. Of course, she never met Jessamine, but what she garners from the way that Corvo speaks of her, she concludes that the late Empress was a woman of greatness.

She catches his dark eyes for a brief moment when he draws Emily up, ruffling her hair as she sheathes the sword in the scabbard that had been knocked out of her hand earlier. Leandra knits her fingers together in her lap, slightly moving a finger in a circle, causing the mark on her hand to shimmer and the shadows around Corvo to stir and brush the back of his knee. He tenses at that, glancing down at the wisps of darkness that curl at his heel. Those dark eyes of his land on her in an instant.

"Emily, why don't go play chess with Leandra? Show her what your mother taught you?" He offers and takes the sword she offers to him since the weapons are kept precariously up high in the other room. She nods, smiling softly, and makes her way to Leandra's side. His voice lifts but is even, "Ezekiel, come here."

Her son's face twists into a glower that could curdle fresh milk, eyes narrowing at Corvo, "Why?"

Void help this child, his arrogance is going to get the better of him. It doesn't deter him. In the face of her son's attitude, his features soften into something that she sees in him when it’s the two of them. He makes a becoming gesture, his tone soft, "Come here."

Emily shoos him out of his chair, "Father doesn't bite, Ezekiel."

Her son slouches as he stands, shuffling toward Corvo, golden hair in his eyes. For his age, Ezekiel is tall but beside Corvo, he looks small. While her son's features are golden, Corvo is dark featured, lines forming around his dark eyes that are soft, like the touch of a feather against his skin. Gently, he puts his hands on Ezekiel's shoulders, pushing them back so he stands straight.

"How much do you know of defending yourself, Ezekiel?"

She notices how her son doesn't look at Corvo before she begins to play chess with Emily. He shrugs his shoulders, clearly uncomfortable by the way he stands.

The boy pops his knuckles, "Not much.."

"Excellent, because today you're going to get a lesson in how to defend yourself just like Emily has."

Ezekiel groans, drawing in on himself and seemingly shrinking. Emily's finger tapping her own draws her to the beginning of their game, the little empress all ready having gone to the trouble of resetting the board. Leandra smiles at Emily, gesturing for her to go first and it isn't long until there's a heavy _thud_ as Ezekiel goes tumbling to the floor behind Corvo, face down on the floorboards. A smirk pulls at Emily's mouth as he gets up and tries to stop Corvo from flipping him onto his back. It doesn't work. There's a moment when Ezekiel gets the upper hand, but with a sweep of the legs, he's flat on his back again.

This pattern goes on for hours until Corvo stops Ezekiel as he lies on his belly, shivering and panting with a very red face. She chooses to stop watching and play the game that Emily seems to be beating her at. Sliding a knight diagonal of one of Emily's bishops. she barely has time to blink before the young empress has taken said knight for herself and plops it next to the growing line she has in front of her. She's going to win, Leandra knows it since she has very few pieces left.

"You win, my dear," She proclaims, settling back in her chair.

Emily smiles at her, "You did very well, Lea."

"And your mother taught you well. There are few people I come across that use the same set of moves that you just did," She begins to put back the chess pieces with the empress until Ezekiel comes up to the latter's side, poking her in the shoulder. There's scuff marks on his face, a cheekbone swells and there's no doubt in her mind that he'll bruise.

"Wow, you look awful," Emily says when the chess pieces are neatly tucked back into the velveteen pouch that they came from. She raises her dark eyebrows at him, "You want some ice or a bit of medicine for those?"

"You're getting too much pleasure out of my state, Em," Ezekiel snaps and begins to make toward the stairs. His voice is a mumble, "'Sides, I doubt you have something for shattered pride."

She looks to Leandra, who she dips her head to, waves a bit at Corvo before hurrying after Ezekiel. When the pair are gone, Leandra rises from her chair and smoothes the creases in the soft black wool of her skirt, only noticing Corvo's movements until one of his arms loops around her middle. A noise that's partly a laugh and a yelp escapes her as her back connects with his chest.

A smile plays at her lips, "Do you need something?"

"Possibly," There's a note of distinct playfulness in his voice that forms a bubble of warmth in her chest. It differs from the usual iron tone of his voice when they're out in public. She rests her marked hand on top of his, fitting her fingers across his scarred knuckles.

"I'll be surprised if he comes down here again during Emily's lessons."

Leandra glances at the staircase, "He'll be black and blue for a week or so.. But pray tell, why did you call him over? He's never shown incentive toward defensive tactics like Emily has."

At once, Corvo's arm leaves her and she turns to look up into the mildly concerned look he has. She searches his face for the problem, but finds nothing. His tone is low, "I don't think he notices that I listen to him speak to you and that he's rude to you."

Her expression falls, "His arrogance will be his downfall, I'm certain of that."

"When I acted that way as a boy, I was taught a lesson similar to what I taught Ezekiel. Except I was left bloody after the stunts I pulled."

Leandra cups his cheek, thumb running across his cheekbone, smiling, "I think it certainly had an impact on him because I think he won't be mouthing off to anyone with a swollen cheek."

His chuckle is warm, the one that she knows would resonate within her. She always loves his laugh, it never fails make her laugh. The first time she ever heard it, it startled her since all she had ever heard from Corvo had been a deep voice that had calmed her when she lost Ezekiel. He had laughed when Emily had drawn him a picture without his mask and _smiled_. The memory makes the bubble of warmth blossom into a dim fire in her chest. Leaning up on her tip toes, she pecks him on the cheek, nearly having to throw her arms around his neck to do so.

She picks at the buttons of his coat, "You've given me so much, Corvo. And I know that sounds terribly out of place, but.."

"I hardly think that, Lea," He takes her face in her hands, bringing her azure eyes to look into his dark ones. "You've given me a family when I had lost the first one. Emily adores you and Ezekiel both like you were family. I think of the world of your son, I've enjoyed watching him grow. But I never think you truly understand how much you mean to me sometimes. You, Leandra, are the star in my sky and I love you."

Her words come out with a happy noise that she can't quite place. She kisses him when her words fail her again, her fingers twisting into his coat so tight that her hands tremble. His hands slip down her frame to her back and pull her close, so close she swears that she feels his heart against her chest. He is solid, the one thing in her world that looms but never leaves. And it’s the first time that someone has think this way, not even Ezekiel's father could make her feel grounded and so.. cherished.

"Really?" A voice forces them apart and both of them blink owlishly at Ezekiel and Emily on the stairs. Her son's face is something of disbelief and the typical sour look he puts on. Emily, however, is another story. She's beaming, smiling like she has a secret, legs swinging as she sits on a step. Leandra loosens her grip on Corvo's coat at the sound of her son's voice, pressing the palms of her hands against his chest to hide the wrinkles that she's made.

"What happened to fixing Ezekiel, Emily?" Corvo enquires, not loosening his hold on her one bit. She shifts, pressing her ear over his heart.

Emily's smile lessens some, "The nurse gave him something for the swelling and told him to go rest, but then a guard came and found us. He said that there's a meeting that's supposed to be held in a few hours, but he couldn't find either of you so we were told to tell you when we saw you again."

"And we leave you both alone for more than a few moments and you're doing… whatever you're doing," Ezekiel sits behind Emily, wincing. "Guess that was a mistake, Em."

Her dark eyes fall back on him, "Where'd you get that idea?"

 "Cause they were… you know."

"We're not five, Ezekiel," The empress pushes her dark hair out of her eyes as she turns her head back to them. "Do you want us to leave you alone now?"

Leandra waves off the idea with a flick of her wrist, a smile pulling at her mouth, "I think we'll have more alone time later, princess. But thank you."

Corvo's chin rests on the top of her head, his voice is a hush, "We are?"

She laughs quietly, "Of course, darling."

Ezekiel makes a gagging sound from across the room and when Leandra slants her eyes at him, he frowns, "Gross, please stop."

Emily smacks him on the shoulder for his remark, giving him a glare that could stop a goliath's heart. The little empress stands up with a strange amount of grace, grabs Ezekiel's collar, and drags him up the stairs out of sight. It's then that Corvo's hold on her loosens enough so she can peer up into his face.

"My answer to your earlier remark would be that I love you too, Corvo. If that wasn't plain all ready."

His left hand slips from her back to take her right and kiss the mark on the back of her hand, "I thought as such, my dear Leandra."


End file.
